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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/24870604">Death</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/Midgard_writer/pseuds/Midgard_writer'>Midgard_writer</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>The New Wolf Zirkus [2]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Popee the Performer (Anime)</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-06-23</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-06-23</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-04 09:42:07</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Teen And Up Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>Major Character Death</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>2,089</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/24870604</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/Midgard_writer/pseuds/Midgard_writer</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>Why do the members of the Wolf Zirkus keep coming back after they die? What goes on around those that work there?</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>The New Wolf Zirkus [2]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/series/1799578</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>11</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>Death</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>Enjoy!</p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>“Make sure you have your hands towards the middle of the wood,” Juniper called up to Popee.</p><p>“I’m doing just that!” he called from the tall tightrope.</p><p>Juniper had been at the Wolf Zirkus for about two weeks and she had a lot to teach. For the first week, Popee refused to acknowledge her. While Kedamono was enthusiastic to learn her tricks and Papi did his best to evaluate, the other performer would have nothing to do with her. Other than throwing bombs at her and uttering wicked curses in her direction. However, he decided (surprisingly on his own) that he had to learn to get along with other members of the Zirkus. Even if they were...Juniper. </p><p>She found that, on some days, he was actually quite pleasant. But on this day, it was the opposite. She had been teaching the loud mouthed performer about effective ways to walk across a tightrope. Though he’d talked back and angrily tossed a dagger her way, he’d been doing well. So far, that was. All while the acrobat and Keda were watching from the ground below. </p><p>“Is he going to fall if he doesn’t hold the middle of the wood?” Keda asked nervously.</p><p>“No, he should be fine.”</p><p>“I dunno--Popee can be extremely clumsy--”</p><p>“I heard that!”</p><p>Keda and Juniper winced at the sound of his angered voice. Juniper looked up at the performer and shook her head. He looked like he was growing impatient as he walked across. He was tired of being forced to walk slowly on some stupid rope. He had his eyes outward on the village and one thought came to mind. A side smirk came to his face and that could only mean one thing. By now, both had known what was bound to happen.</p><p>“N-no, Popee!” Kedamono begged,” You don’t want to do that!”</p><p>“Yes I do,” Popee said as he tossed the stick overboard.</p><p>“No, seriously Popee,” Juniper called up,” Don’t do it.”</p><p> </p><p>“Oh, what do you know?” he asked as he lit the bomb,” You’ve only been here for two weeks!”</p><p> </p><p>Popee threw the bomb, but realized it was a grave mistake, for, as he did, he lost his balance on the rope. The bomb blew up in mid air as Popee tried to regain his balance. But it was no use. His arms waved around and his feet shuffled. The two on the ground were gasping and coming up in a full panic.<br/>
“Popee!” they called as he finally came crashing down. </p><p>He fell face first in the sand with his arms and legs sprawled out all over the place. Juniper and Keda ran over to the young man and tried to get him up. But he wouldn’t move. When the girl knelt down, she saw that his neck had been broken, his tongue was out and his eyes had rolled into the back of his head. The girl screamed and shot up, tears in her eyes.</p><p>“What?” Keda asked with his mask full of surprise. </p><p>“He’s...dead,” she said softly.</p><p>Kedamono’s mask was now teary-eyed. He was trying to figure out what to do and if they could recover the boy. It was an act, but he wasn’t sure if now was the time to tell her the truth. Unfortunately, there was nothing they could do. Juniper’s heart was racing. What could she do? How would she tell Papi? Before she could try to come up with a speech, Papi came over with a shovel. Full panic came to the girl’s face as she sat his eyes avert to his dead son. </p><p>“Sir!” she called,” I am so sorry. I didn’t expect any of this to happen. One minute, he’s on the tightrope and the next-”</p><p>“There is nothing to worry about,” he admitted,” Just go on with your day and don’t worry about Popee, okay?”</p><p>“But…”</p><p> </p><p>Papi simply dug a hole next to the body of his son. Juniper had to ponder for a moment, wondering if what she saw was true. She felt as though this was a prank and they would be finished in just a few moments. But it wasn’t. </p><p>“What just happened?” She asked Keda.</p><p>He had to come up with an excuse for why that had happened. He wasn’t sure that Papi would want the truth to get out so soon. On the spot, he quickly came up with a thought that made his mask show a smile.</p><p>“Oh, it’s just Papi’s imagination,” Keda explained,” Say, let’s go practice some more tightrope walking, shall we?”</p><p>Keda turned her away from the scene. She tried to get it out of her mind, but alas, it wouldn’t stop. Even as she went to bed that night, Juniper tried to figure out what had gone on. Why had they remained so casual about the death of Popee? What would they do without him? Even if he was a big pain, he was still a member of the Zirkus. How would they go on?</p><p>These thoughts and more went to her head as she slept the night away. By the next morning, Juniper left her tent feeling even more worried. The eerie silence that came about the grounds was nothing more than a state of grieving. This she understood. Until…</p><p>“It’ll be fun!” the voice, much like Popee’s, insisted. </p><p>Juniper raised an eyebrow as she ran over to where the voice came from. She peered from behind one of the tents and looked forward. Her face dropped with shock as she saw Popee standing right next to Kedamono. How was this possible? How could this happen? He died! </p><p>“I...I don’t think-”</p><p>“Juniper!” Popee called as he walked over to her.</p><p>The performer felt her heart racing. He was dead. He was killed yesterday. He wasn’t supposed to be here! As she shook, Popee paused and gave her a worried look.</p><p>“Are you...alright?” he asked with a confused voice, reaching towards the girl.</p><p>“H-how?”</p><p> </p><p>“How?”</p><p>“You’re not supposed to be here,” she said,” Yesterday, you-”</p><p> </p><p>“Oh, you’re in the weird dream phase of your journey!” Keda laughed nervously,” You get those when you come here! Why don’t you grab the knives and meet us by the targets? You can practice for a little bit!”</p><p>Juniper tried to piece the thoughts together. Popee handed her the knives and watched her walk away. They waited until she was practicing before they turned to each other. They had grown serious after she had left and they were nervous.</p><p>“What do we do? Keda nervously asked.</p><p>“I’ll tell you what we’re gonna do,” Popee hissed,” We’re gonna shut our mouths and pretend that this is all normal.”</p><p> </p><p>“She’s getting suspicious! We’re starting to look crazy!”</p><p> </p><p>“I get that, but don’t you think she’ll stop asking questions? At some point, she’s gonna get bored or the same thing will happen to her, then she’ll know!”</p><p>“But I-”</p><p> </p><p>“Don’t keep worrying,” Popee said as they walked to the targets,” Let’s just forget all of this happened and let’s focus on the knife throwing, shall we?”</p><p>Kedamono hated to agree, but he had too much on his mind to argue. He sighed as they walked back to the practice. Juniper hadn’t been good at knife throwing. In fact, most of them bounced back or fell straight to the ground. Popee sighed at the sight. How did his dad allow her to stay here with barely any talent?</p><p>“You’re doing great,” Popee gave her the thumbs up, though he hoped she could hear the sarcasm. She could. </p><p>“I’ve never done this before,” she admitted as she tossed another knife and it bounced,” It isn’t easy,” she did it again,” And I think,” again,”I won’t,” again,” be getting,” Again,” the hang,” Again,” Of it!”</p><p>When she realized she was out of knives, she turned to ask the boys for more. Her face grew pale and her eyes popped out when she saw both boys had been hit with knives. They laid on the ground with Juniper mentally begging for them to wake up. When they wouldn’t move, she teared up and called for Papi. He came walking over with two shovels in his hands. As if he was ready for her words. </p><p>“Oh, poor boys,” Papi sighed as he handed the girl a shovel.</p><p>Juniper helped bury Keda, but this was the perfect opportunity. Tonight, she would find out how the group came back to life and what was truly going on inside Wolf Zirkus. When the evening finally came, Juniper snuck away from her tent. She knew exactly where Papi’s tent was and knew she had to get there fast. </p><p>The acrobat walked quickly across the land, glancing over at where the two had been buried. The graves were empty. Juniper knew something terrible was up. She heard whistling in the distance and hid. She peered out anxiously, and saw Papi walking into his rather large tent. She ran over and peered into his tent, wondering what was going to happen. </p><p>The main performer had Popee and Keda laid out on the floor. There were torches on green sticks that circled the three. Papi was in the middle and waited for something, a watermelon and a samurai sword at his feet. Juniper wasn’t sure what it was, but she was ready to find out. Papi suddenly snapped his fingers and the torches lit up. </p><p>“Woah,” Juniper whispered as she reeled back.</p><p>Papi did his weird dance around the bodies. The girl was doing her best to understand what was going on, but she couldn’t. Suddenly, a spacecraft came down in front of the tent. Juniper hid from plain sight but still had a view as a tiny alien in a spacesuit came walking out. Papi came out of the tent with the watermelon and the sword. He set it on the ground, the two bowing to each other. Juniper watched with astonishment as the circus man sliced the watermelon in the middle and the sides fell. The alien examined the pieces then looked up to Papi.</p><p>“A worthy sacrifice,” he said in a monotono,” but it could be a darker red.”</p><p>“Look, it’s all that I had,” Papi sighed.</p><p>“Hey, I’m not complaining.”</p><p> </p><p>The two went into the tent and Juniper snuck over to the entryway. What was this little alien doing here? What did he want? He looked at the bodies then looked up to an expecting Papi. The alien had a black box appear in front of them. Juniper raised an eyebrow as he opened it to show off syringes filled with purple liquid. </p><p>“What?” she whispered.</p><p>“This should last you two weeks,” the alien said, “ It could be more. I added extra in there because I noticed that you have a new member on your team.”</p><p> </p><p>“Yes, yes,” Papi nodded,” Though I have doubts that she’ll be dying as much as they did.”</p><p>Juniper smiled at that. It was nice to hear that there was faith in her, but she could be just as clumsy. She had to watch out just as much as the other two (even three) did. She watched as Papi took out one of the needles and jabbed Popee with it. She watched as the serum was injected, then Popee twitched awake. She stared with amazement as the boy sat up and looked up at Papi.</p><p>“Again?” he sighed.</p><p>“I’m afraid so,” his father nodded, turned to Kedamono and did the same.</p><p>He awoke in the same manner, but he was much more quiet as he got up. Juniper was amazed. This was the strangest place she had been to! The Wolf Zirkus was more of an oddity every day and she knew she loved it. </p><p>“I thought we had a supply,” Keda glanced over to the alien.</p><p>“We ran out,” Papi explained.</p><p>“I’m not surprised,” Popee looked around,” Where’s our acrobat?”</p><p> </p><p>Juniper froze and waited for the response.</p><p>“Once she dies,” Papi said,” She can know. For now, I say we just go to bed and remember this in the morning, shall we?”</p><p> </p><p>Juniper ran back to her tent. She had a lot to think about as she laid down that night. In order to stop living this lie, she had to die. That’s when an idea came to her. So, the next morning, juggling swords was a lot more fun. And the secret was finally out. She acted like it was a surprise, but after that, Juniper felt truly like a part of Wolf Zirkus.</p>
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